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Yale student Suzanne Jovin's brutal 1998 murder remains unsolved
Suzanne Jovin, 21, was tragically murdered by a knife attacker on December 4, 1998
During the holiday season of 1998, Yale senior Suzanne Jovin organised a festive pizza event at a nearby church for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As the lead of the Yale division of Best Buddies — a service group matching students with adults with these disabilities — Jovin, aged 21, had been busy preparing for the end-term gathering that took place on Friday (December 4), 1998, at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Connecticut, according to the police.
Once the party concluded, the German student from Gottingen headed to her apartment and was never seen alive again.
Within just 30 minutes, Jovin was discovered about 8 miles away at the junction of East Rock and Edgehill roads, found stabbed 17 times in her head and neck, as noted by the police.
She was quickly transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital where she was declared dead in the ER at 10:26pm, The New York Times revealed.
Investigators tirelessly searched for her murderer but were unable to find a suspect.
Presently, nearly thirty years on, a retired police sergeant who led the original investigation is urging anyone with potential information on Jovin’s murder to come forward.
“We are keen to hear from anyone in the local area or at the University who might possess information that could assist us,” said now-retired New Haven Police sergeant and detective Ed Kendall, who once led this case, as WSFB announced.
On December 4, 2025 — marking the anniversary of Jovin's passing — Kendall, alongside others, commemorated her memory with a moment of silence at the exact spot she fell.
“The tragedy of Suzanne Jovin's stabbing 27 years ago is still remembered,” remarked Kendall, as shared by New Haven Independent.
One particular reason Kendall persists in his quest to resolve Jovin’s murder is because her case remains the sole unsolved homicide in New Haven that year, according to WSFB.
“[During] 1998, New Haven had 15 murder cases. Except for Suzanne Jovin's case, all were resolved and closed,” Kendall explained, as noted by the outlet.